TKC REALITY CHECK: KANSAS CITY SILLY SEASON 'AFFORDABLE HOUSING' DEBATE WORSENED LIFE FOR WORKING POOR!!!



A recent news tidbit has important implications for so many Kansas City activists, media denizens and elected officials who don't understand the consequences of their financial adventures in local government.

Over the past year the affordable hosing debate in Kansas City inspired residents to not only take to the street in protest but also sponsor an ordinance that that attempted to crack down on landlords.

Further reading on this recent fight:

Fox4: KC property manager tries to offload inspection costs onto tenants only to learn it’s illegal

"A California-based company that owns apartment complexes in Kansas City is retracting its request for residents to pay up for basic rental inspection costs after learning it's against city code."

Pitch: Landmark Realty backs off its attempt to impose an illegal fee on tenants

“The KCMO Health Department is implementing a new program called the ‘Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program,” read the letter signed by the Landmark Realty regional director. “This program includes an annual fee of $20/unit, which we are passing on to residents at all of our properties. I have applied this city imposed fee to your account.”

"Landmark’s $20 fee is literally illegal."

In the aftermath, activists claimed a win and politicos ran a victory lap because the company backed down over Facebook slap fighting.

Here's the more important postscript . . .

TKC TOLD YOU SO!!! OUR BLOG COMMUNITY WAS PROVEN CORRECT AND THE MISGUIDED RENTAL INSPECTION FEE DID, IN FACT, BACKFIRE AGAINST LOCAL RENTERS AND MAKE THEIR LIVES EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE AND HARDER!!!

Unfortunately, what misguided politicos & activists believe is a victory is nothing more than proof that this social justice crusade is the victim of bad math.

This isn't finance, it's arithmetic. Truism: More taxes and higher prices are always passed down to the consumer.

In this instance the property company was clumsy and justifiably pushed back . . . But that's not the end of it, it never is . . . THE TRAGIC KANSAS CITY IRONY . . .

The exchange simply reveals that landlords are now incentivized to hike rent on residents in order to keep up with higher taxes & fees courtesy of "affordable housing" advocates.

And the claims that this particular rent hike was "illegal" are just as childish and naive as election effort to pass the clunky legislation that wouldn't last five minutes against an elite real estate lawyer.

The bigger picture is even scarier . . .



The Kansas City "affordable housing" debate has been both a scam and distraction.

In a capitalist society markets determine the going rate for housing more efficiently than any politico or activist. Markets self-correct and offer opportunity for those who are ahead of the curve. That's not to say that governments can't help create opportunity or even offer subsidy to encourage development . . . It would be unreasonable to deny success stories.

However . . .

THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEBATE DURING THIS ELECTION SEASON HAS BETRAYED PO'FOLK AND MISTAKENLY GIVEN PEOPLE THE IMPRESSION THAT CHEAPER RENT IS A POLITICAL GOAL!!!

Again, there are some great economic incentive programs and low-income housing developers who are already accomplishing worthwhile goals but that kind of grunt work isn't as glamorous as attacking property owners at attempting hijack the local election.

Meanwhile, the greedy advocates of the affordable housing debate distracted locals from the horrific violence confronted by Kansas City.

In fact, the rate of violent crime and not any form of housing discrimination has created the real disparity in Kansas City. Property in violent neighborhoods is discounted and rendered uninhabitable thereby pushing the local real estate market into a narrow space for decent, livable neighborhoods.

Cheap talk about equity and social justice proved effective at tricking protesters. Instead of holding politicos accountable for their time in office, protesters instead encouraged voters to accept more hype from politicos who tout efforts that intend to change the very nature of capitalism rather than just simply putting more cops on the street like they promised.

This big government tactic has been unquestioned by a complicit media and local political establishment that did their best to avoid any tough or unpleasant questions during this camapign.

Developing . . .

Comments

  1. Hey now, this is election day in Kansas City. Nobody is accountable.

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    1. Actually, I think the point you're missing is that the Healthy Homes Rental Inspection Program is UNCONSTITUTIONAL in its implementation and restriction of rental feeds. The market regulation is racketeering by City Hall at its finest. A silly ordinance to be sure but just one of many that makes KC one of the worse places to do business in all of the U.S.

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    2. Better KC program: Weed for rent. Everybody wins.

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  2. Save The Plaza4/2/19, 1:24 PM

    Same exact thing is happening with the minimum wage ordinance. They just put a lot of poor people out of work thanks to more automation and the higher prices of hiring more workers.

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  3. AOC economics don't work.

    Ride your bike to tell your friends.

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  4. So let's see.
    The same crowd that gave away hundreds of millions of tax dollars to wealthy out-of-town developers no tries to make believe they're really interested and dedicated to affordable housing?
    How about some beachfront property in Belton from the "Port Authority"?
    The elects in KCMO all behave as though the city is populated by nobody but amnesiacs!
    The clown car rolls on!
    It never changes.

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  5. The healthy homes program created 38 pages of new guidelines and requirements for rental housing to comply with.

    Even after asking on multiple occasions, and emailing the manual to him which he hadn't yet seen, I've yet to get Quinton Lucas, who is the current chairperson of the housing committee and mayoral candidate, to acknowledge whether he's even read the 38 page healthy homes program rules or to comment on the fact that the new guidelines have no basis with, and often conflict with current codes.

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  6. So, the rent goes from $500 to $540.... now I bet it's legal.

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  7. serious question...has there ever been a liberal program that had actually worked and didn't have the complete opposite effect of what it intended?

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  8. Excellent post Tony. 100% true.

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  9. Companies will be more diligent in kicking people out for late rent payments and then raise rates on new rentals. Also services to those refusing to leave when their lease is up will see problems start to happen...first the air conditioner will quit, then the electricity service will be unreliable, then the water pressure will drop dramatically and poop won't flush cleanly, the potholes in the driveway in front of the unit will go unfixed. There is always a way to get a socialist to leave comrade.

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  10. Get ready to pay more rent.

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  11. Byron Funkhouser4/2/19, 7:30 PM

    You're blaming the wrong people, & justifying greed by saying, "That's capitalism."

    Defending this class warfare as better than socialism is stupid.

    Poor people demanding safe, affordable housing is not the problem.

    Defending greed by being a "running dog lackey of the bourgeoisie" is the problem.


    This is why they are called slum lords.

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  12. Get ready to pay more rent.

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  13. Byron why do you continuously say such stupid things? So if you owned some houses and apartments, would you stand there and say you would rent them out to people at a loss? That you would in no way try and gain some profit from them?

    You would charge just as much as everyone else for your places and call people like you who hated it assholes.

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  14. Vegas favors Lucas4/2/19, 9:42 PM

    Kansas City favors Lucas.

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  15. ^^^^ Winner, winner.

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  16. This was such a dumb idea from activists, really hard to imagine that they didn't see this one coming. They literally raised everyone's rent by $20 and maybe more. If you told me they were actually working for landlords I would believe it because this was just not well thought out.

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  17. Actually agree with Byron's comments here. If you really want to help the working poor then you would support some form of accountability for bad landlords. That is one of the most important thing KC needs right now.

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